FAIRBURN , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In a south Atlanta neighborhood lined with palatial homes and manicured lots , the Hicks family was living out its American dream .

Breylan and Terese Hicks play with their sons Bryce , 3 , and Jordan , 2 .

But like many Americans , that dream was interrupted when they almost lost their home to foreclosure .

Terese , a firefighter , and her husband Breylan , a police sergeant , had always dreamed about owning a spacious house in the suburbs .

When they began their search , the young family was living in a south Atlanta neighborhood . They grew concerned and decided to move when crime in the area started to pick up .

Although they did n't think they could afford their ` dream home , ' they started searching in an affluent area just south of the airport and across the street from the 190-room estate owned by famed heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield .

`` I 've always been looking in this subdivision , but never thought we could afford a home here , '' Terese Hicks said . After discussing their financials with a mortgage broker , the family was presented with a deal and payments they could afford . The interest-only , adjustable rate loan sounded good at the time . And since they were not first-time homebuyers , they thought they knew what they were getting into . Terese Hicks figured they could always refinance before the interest rates were adjusted .

Soon , the family settled in their seven-bedroom , five-bathroom plantation-style home with a pool .

It all seemed like a dream come true , until the couple learned the interest rate on their loan would readjust in just six months , making the loan a short three-year ARM . The mother of two , who handles the family 's finances , had wrongly assumed that their loan was a five-year ARM .

The news could n't have come at a worse time . Breylan was unable to work because of a serious back injury , and the family 's income took a hit . They were also paying mortgages on vacant rental properties when they could n't find tenants because of the housing crisis . To make matters worse , Terese Hicks , a city employee , had to take a 10-percent pay cut in her salary , and the family was burdened with a mountain of medical bills for numerous surgeries their 6-month-old son Jordan underwent to treat a birth-related medical condition .

Struggling to pay the new adjusted mortgage , Terese Hicks appealed to their mortgage company , Homecomings which is owned by GMAC , for help .

`` They said there was nothing they could do about the rate readjusting , so I said let 's weather the storm and see what we can do , '' she said .

She continued to make regular payments for all of their mortgages in order to maintain their good credit . But within a year , they were in the eye of the storm and their savings dropped to around $ 75 . Desperate , the Hickses asked their mortgage company again for help . But they were told there was nothing they could do because they were current on all their payments .

The Hickses decided they had no other choice but to `` play the game '' and stop paying their mortgage , even if it meant damaging their hard-earned credit .

Homecomings acknowledges that the guidelines for modification at that time made little sense , but they were caught in the middle of a `` symptomatic '' relationship between working with third-party investors and homeowners .

`` In order for us to have been able to modify the loan we needed to get permission on the investor on whose behalf we are servicing the loan , '' said Jeanine Bruin of GMAC . `` It 's a balancing act , what 's in the best interest of the customer and the investor . '' At the time of the Hickses request for a loan modification , investors backing the loans required some proof of financial difficulty . Things have changed since then , including new government concessions geared towards helping homeowners , explained Bruin .

`` The proof was in the pudding , '' said Bruin , `` You had to be late in your payment to prove hardship . ''

The Hicks family 's story is one that Marcia Griffin , founder of HomeFree-USA , has heard all too often .

`` We advise homebuyers not to talk to a realtor or lender before we can meet with them for a Mortgage Profile Meeting , '' said Griffin . `` Within 30 minutes the client will know if they can fly , run , walk or crawl . ''

HomeFree-USA is a nonprofit organization devoted to homeownership development and financial empowerment . It 's one of several national nonprofit organizations that offer mortgage assistance and home ownership counseling . The Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America and the National Urban League offer community advocacy programs geared toward counseling lower - and middle-income families who are purchasing or refinancing their homes . With offices in Washington and Atlanta , HomeFree-USA 's clientele is mostly minority borrowers . During the recent housing crisis , Griffin says people of color have become `` easy prey '' because they often do n't know the right questions to ask about subprime and ARM loans . Some may find her no-nonsense attitude a bit difficult to swallow .

`` You can not buy a house without any money , and you can not buy a house with poor credit , '' cautioned Griffin . As an African-American , Griffin believes she 's the right messenger to help financially empower the African-American community .

Griffin believes families like the Hicks could have qualified for a better , less risky loan and should have been better informed about the terms of their loan . If the Hicks family had known sooner about HomeFree-USA 's program they might have been able to save their good credit rating and a lot of aggravation . It was only after receiving notice that their home was going up for auction that Terese Hicks learned about HomeFree-USA . She contacted the Atlanta office and within a few days there was a resolution . The Hicks family learned that they qualified for President Obama 's new homeownership assistance program . The program offered institutionalized loan modifications for people who could prove they were suffering economic hardship .

With a low interest rate locked in for the next five years , the family was able to keep the home and pay an affordable monthly mortgage .

Griffin hopes other homebuyers can learn from the Hickses ' situation and seek out an advocate early in the process of refinancing or modifying a loan -- before they are caught in a financial storm .

`` People do n't know where to go and who to talk to , '' says Griffin . `` They are suffering in silence . ''

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The Hicks family purchased a `` dream home '' just south of Atlanta , Georgia

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The couple struggled to pay the interest-only mortgage after it adjusted

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They suffered a series of financial blows from health issues to loss of income

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HomeFree-USA consulted with their lender to avoid foreclosure